


Letters

by yamahibi



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Fluff, they're just in love what else can I say
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-11-02 10:20:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20712356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yamahibi/pseuds/yamahibi
Summary: Holst, like any normal sibling, is overly nosy and asks in a letter one of the few questions Hilda wanted to avoid. A question about if there's anyone she likes. Though the question does get her thinking.





	Letters

The first time Hilda saw the question she stared at the letter on her desk in mild annoyance. What kind of question was this supposed to be?

_“Is there anyone you fancy?”_ Holst’s neat script read. For a warrior, his handwriting had always been rather pretty, though it was nothing special compared to Hilda’s own. When she had asked for help with topics to write about in her letters this wasn’t what she had in mind. She had been expecting questions about her classes or about flying on wyverns, or well anything except this. Honestly, why couldn’t her brother be content checking in every month or two, hell half the students own parents didn’t check on them as much as Hilda’s brother checked in on her. Not to misunderstand, she loved her brother dearly and appreciated that he cares this much, but it just wasn’t fair. How in the world can she come up with new things to talk about each week on her own? 

Despite her complaints, she wasn’t going to tell him to stop writing to her. She had just asked for him to have more questions to respond to so she had topics to go off of. Instead she somehow managed to invite her brother to ask things like this. 

She had to think of a way to respond though, right? She pursed her lips together and thought about it. Dorothea was gorgeous and fun to be around, but she didn’t feel anything besides friendship for her. There was also Mercedes who was too kind, they have lunch together on occasions, but how often she picks up work for others made Hilda exhausted just thinking about it. There were the girls in her class of course, but Lysithea was like a younger sister to her, and her and Leonie’s personalities were just about complete opposites. They got along fine, of course, but anything past friends was out of the question. Then there was Marianne. 

Marianne with her beautiful blue hair and that downcast look that just drew Hilda in. Marianne who Hilda had caught talking to birds and horses with a soft smile on her face. Marianne who had - rather impressively - cozied up with Hilda’s wyvern almost instantly like it was the easiest thing in the world. Sure, Marianne had quite the way with animals, but it had been difficult for even the best wyvern tamer in the monastery to reign in Hilda’s wyvern before Hilda became her rider. After finding out how much the wyvern liked Hilda, they had practically begged her to take the rather stubborn dragon. 

Their teacher had paired them together for a flying group task, likely because the professor had realized Hilda might actually try a little bit harder if Marianne was involved, and naturally Hilda had taken her wyvern for the task. Everything went as well as any sort of assignment usually does, but what was notable was Hilda’s wyvern nuzzling up to Marianne after she had put her pegasus back in the stable. 

“What’s her name?” Marianne had asked with a faint smile as she scratched the top of the wyvern’s head. 

A small frown of worry pulled at Hilda’s lips. Sure, her wyvern was behaving for now but she was worried she would suddenly get irritated and knock poor Marianne over. “Marianne… You should be careful, she’s known for being picky when it comes to people,” Hilda decided on warning.

“Oh… but she seems very sweet,” Hilda watched as the wyvern leaned into Marianne’s touch and huffed contentedly. With that faint smile still on her face Marianne looked at Hilda, expecting an answer to her earlier question. Hilda sighed, if the wyvern was on her best behavior she supposed she shouldn’t stress too much. Too much stress would be bad for her complexion, anyway. 

“Peaches, that’s her name.” The response she got in return wasn’t what she was expecting in the slightest. Marianne had started chuckling. It was quiet, sure, but unmistakable. The rare, and extremely cute, sound had caught her completely off guard. So off guard, in fact, she hadn’t even thought that Marianne might have been laughing at her naming choice. Even if she had been, it was hard to get mad while seeing Marianne like this, there were few others Marianne was willing to laugh and smile around after all.

“Sorry, Hilda. I didn’t mean to laugh,” Marianne said as she composed herself, “It’s just… the name is very you,” she smiled as she finished speaking. An actual smile this time, not the faint one she had been doing moments before, but a genuine smile. Sure her smile was a little awkward, it seemed like something she hadn’t done in a long time, but it was cute. Very cute. If she could bring this out more often in Marianne, then perhaps being laughed at wasn’t so bad. 

“I’ll choose to take that as a compliment,” Hilda shook her head. Even now though, Hilda was always shocked whenever Marianne would walk up to Peaches and rub her head like she was nothing more than an overgrown dog. 

Marianne was also rather clumsy in contrast to how composed and thoughtful she looked. It could be a bit bothersome at times, seeing as she wasn’t very good at helping Hilda with chores around the monastery, but it was hard to hold it against her when she tried so hard and apologized for it each time. At least she did her best to make up for it. Marianne always remembered Hilda’s favorite pastries and brought them whenever they had tea together. She also let Hilda talk about anything and everything without interrupting. On top of that she always paid close attention to whatever she said, even if it seemed trivial. Being able to spend time together like that was at the very least worth the effort from the chores. 

There was something about Marianne that always made her want to try just a bit harder. Maybe it was how she always seemed to make her pulse quicken or how her stomach did flips on the rare occasions she laughed or smiled. Hilda wasn’t dense, she knew she had some sort of a crush on the other girl, though she didn’t care too much to assess and see how far gone she was. It would have been easy enough to use Marianne as the answer to her letter, and yet she found herself hesitating. The way her brother had posed the question made it sound too serious for her to answer with what could be a passing crush. Likely if she mentioned anyone anyway her brother would be prepared to tell her father so they could start planning a wedding or something, she rolled her eyes at the thought. 

Deciding it was best to avoid the question entirely, she answered _‘No one I can think of’_ and then she changed the topic to new accessories she had made. That should be enough for her brother, for now at least. 

Five years come and go. Things change, lots of things change in this case, and people change. Claude was more mature and he looked more determined than ever with the professor back by his side, Lorenz didn’t seem _as_ uptight about his noble sensibilities - and she meant that in the nicest way possible - everyone else in her class all had subtle changes, except Marianne. Marianne had drastically changed, not that it was a bad thing, Hilda thought to herself. Marianne’s hair was neater, her bangs had been cut and now her eyes were more visible without the shadow obscuring them. The bags under her eyes had disappeared over time as well. Now she had a certain air of confidence around her that she lacked during their academy days.

Seeing her again reminded her of that familiar feeling of her stomach tied in knots and her heart beating faster. Perhaps that part of Hilda hadn’t changed it seems, and perhaps referring to Marianne as a passing crush all those years ago was the wrong way to look at it. 

Another thing that hadn’t changed much was her brother’s letters. Due to the war they were farther in between compared to her academy days, but at least once a month he had been sure to write her. She glanced down at the most recent letter, detailing something about a new drinking buddy he had made, which made her roll her eyes, but she wasn’t focused on that so much as what was at the end of the letter. 

_“After reuniting with everyone are you sure there hasn’t been anyone that has caught your eye?”_

This time the question didn’t annoy her, mostly because she knew she wouldn’t have to think about how to answer. There was so much she could write about after all. The bigger question would be where to start talking about it all. She could describe how Marianne’s eyes were filled with gentleness and unbreakable kindness that only she could still possess during this time of war. Or she could talk about how often those same eyes shone with unshed tears as she patched up some of Hilda’s more severe injuries after battles. Her soft hands always hesitating slightly before touching Hilda’s skin as she worked her way up with healing spells, careful to close every cut and even minor scrapes.

Had it not been her brother that she had been writing to she could write about how Marianne’s lips were gentle as she pressed kisses to her closed wounds. Or how her lips were soft against Hilda’s own. That was definitely way too much information for her brother to know. 

She could write about how her hands fit together with Marianne’s. As well as the way Marianne often complimented Hilda’s hands despite them being rough and calloused, the exact opposite of her own. It was easy to hate her own hands for how worn they looked due to all the fighting, but if Marianne liked them so much they couldn’t possibly be half as bad as she thought. Even that sounded too private for her brother’s knowledge. 

There was always the story of how she asked Marianne to be her girlfriend, though that might have been embarrassing on Marianne’s part. It sounded almost mean to tell her brother that Marianne asked at least five times if she was absolutely sure about wanting to date her. Despite becoming more confident over the years, some things really didn’t change as much as you’d think.

Honestly she was out of ideas. As much as she wanted to tell her brother she had found someone she couldn’t think of how to word it, which is the reason she hadn’t told him shortly after it happened in the first place. She shuffled her papers and closed the inkwell she had been intending to use. Stretching she looked away from her desk and stared at the space in her room she had designated as her crafting space. Her latest project were two small silver rings that rested in their respective boxes. One had an aquamarine gem at the center, on each side of it were two pink tourmalines. The other looked the same but the gems were switched, the tourmaline at the center with two aquamarines by its side. Some might think the color combination odd, but Hilda thought they contrasted perfectly. Much like how she and Marianne were opposites but fit together well. 

A knock on her door sounded suddenly and a quiet voice called her name. “One minute!” Hilda called back as she scrambled to close the ring boxes and hide the matching rings under some of her other crafting materials. Marianne wasn’t nosy and wouldn’t even question the box knowing Hilda’s hobbies, but it had to stay an absolute secret! 

As she opened the door she was greeted by what she would call her favorite sight, Marianne smiling. These days Marianne smiled more often, she had always been naturally beautiful and elegant looking, but the way her smile lit up her features made that even more apparent. Her smile no longer seemed awkward and out of practice, it became another natural expression once more, it had just taken her some time to find it again. 

“I wanted to ask if you wanted to go to dinner together, but if you’re busy…” Marianne glanced inside Hilda’s room, namely at the papers and inkwells that were sitting on her desk awaiting use. 

“Don’t worry about it! I always have time for you, Marianne,” Hilda smiled and took Marianne’s hand, feeling a small sense of delight over the faint blush on Marianne’s cheeks. This time she didn’t bother putting her gloves on before leaving her room. Around her girlfriend she didn’t feel like she had to hide her hands, also getting to feel Marianne’s hand in her own was a bonus. Hilda spared one last glance at the letter that sat on her desk before she shut her door. It seems like she would just have to tell her brother to wait until he can meet her in person. “Well, let’s get going! I hope they have good desserts today.”


End file.
